We coffee people often use the phrase "It's just like wine!" when we want to explain something about coffee. But does the comparison between these two indulgences hold up? Are there really so many similarities?
In September 2018, I bought the book by Morten Scholer pictured above, "Coffee and Wine." The author compares the two indulgences more precisely than anyone has before him. Using hundreds of examples, he points out that the two products are only superficially similar; when we look deeper, we find far more differences than similarities.
That might hurt the coffee people among us a little. But does it hurt the wine people too? I don't think so (yet). The urge to often compare coffee to wine likely comes strongly from the coffee corner.
I recently did a coffee tasting for laypeople, which is always extremely exciting. I tried to mix as many extreme coffees as possible with what is familiar. We had coffees from Brazil, Kenya, Ethiopia, and Central America, different processing methods, and different ages and roast levels. To show how different the coffees are, I said: "If we were drinking wine here, they would probably be a Riesling, a grape juice, an Amarone, a Chardonnay, and a Pinot Noir." There were some smiles – the allusion to wine jargon was understood.
Would wine people say: "This wine tasting is like coffee? We compare..." – hardly.
There are simple reasons for this: the majority of connoisseurs have likely participated in a wine tasting, but not a coffee tasting yet. Many feel more confident with wine than with coffee. And if a coffee tasting has been done, it is rarely in a form that is even on par with a wine tasting: as a cupping (because it is the most honest form of analyzing coffee), structured and objective.
When I see espresso tastings used as a comparison, we have some insurmountable challenges: first of all, espresso must be extracted well. And then you have to be willing and able to knock back and analyze several espressos in a row – and who really does that with pleasure? beforehand, it leaves your tongue feeling furry like a young Barolo, and every subsequent drink tastes only half as good.
Adventurous with wine, conservative with coffee
At the same time, and this is my personal feeling, people are a bit more adventurous with wine than with coffee. Coffee is the intimate ritual, the personal five minutes in the morning that you cannot take away from someone, let alone dispute. Every coffee drinker knows exactly what they want and need there. No discussion.
The situation is completely different in the evening, at a restaurant, as a reward for a day's work, where you gladly rely on the sommelier's knowledge or enjoy studying the wine list. I often find myself able to choose my meal quite quickly, then spending the last two-thirds of the time until ordering getting lost in the wine list. Because it's simply fun and educational.
Coffee menus and wine lists
And the coffee menu? It might say something like "our coffee specialties," which should never be confused with "our specialty coffee." These are two different things, but both sound good. Unfortunately, there are still far too few extensive coffee menus. It is also technically difficult to implement if you stand for freshness – to keep 20 wines fresh, I simply don't open them yet. Aging them a few days longer doesn't hurt them. But letting coffee age for a few days longer can compromise it.
Coffee and wine are different. As coffee people, we can use wine to compare sensations, sensory impressions, and interpretations. Likewise, wine vocabulary also serves us in coffee; we can easily incorporate it into the language of coffee.
However, as soon as it comes to cultivation, the similarities end. An example? Vines that grow on dry, barren, and steep soil have the chance to produce very good vintages. Coffee trees that grow on dry, barren, and steep soil die.
Where is the journey heading?
The more cafés that opt for a bolder coffee menu in the future, i.e., putting more specialty coffee and fewer coffee specialties in the foreground, the greater the potential will be.
The potential for exchange between two products that are so similar at first glance, yet so different. Sensory analysis is the first point of contact; everything after that requires deeper explanation. And just like that, we are in a discussion. So – share knowledge, set up bold drink menus, and get started.
A great podcast on this topic comes from Lucia Solis - "a former winemaker turned coffee specialist." Highly recommended!
